Florida DCF Developing Treatment Foster Care Pilot

The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) is developing a four-year pilot program to test treatment foster care for foster youth with intensive behavioral needs. The pilot was among the provisions of Florida CS/SB 7012: Child Welfare. It called for DCF to select, by January 1, 2026, two judicial circuits with the greatest need based on placement and removal data for children with serious mental health, substance abuse, and behavioral health issues, and then to contract for an independent evaluation of the pilot. As of November 6, 2025, DCF had not released further information about the upcoming . . .